Trouble always comes in fours
by Majinie
Summary: Hercules wakes up in bed with his three best friends and tries to escape the situation before he has to deal with, dare he say it, feelings. [Poly Hamilsquad]
1. Trouble Always Comes In Fours

_A few quick things before you're thrown into the fray here. This is pretty much my first time really writing anything polyam-related and I usually imagine Herc to be a lot more confident than this, but he's kind of overwhelmed and I was in a situation where I was very insecure about pretty much everything I was doing while I wrote this, so that might have had an impact on my writing._

 _That being said, I do hope you enjoy this!_

Hercules woke up slowly, feeling warm, unusually, but not uncomfortably so. It took him a few seconds of blissful dozing until he gathered enough awareness of his surroundings to realise the warmth came from bodies pressed up against his own. Not a bad thing to wake up to.

 _Wait_.

He blinked his eyes open, a sense of trepidation creeping into his sleep-addled mind, and breathed an almost silent groan when both his situation and the dull throb of a slight hangover came to his attention at the same time.

Of the two, he suspected the latter might be what was gonna be easier to deal with.

Curled up against his right side, with his head pillowed on Herc's shoulder, an arm thrown across his bare chest, his hair undone and half covering his face in tousled ringlets, lay John, fast asleep (unbidden, he remembered _tracing paths of freckles with his lips, uncoordinated kisses being pressed to his jaw, hands clutching at his shoulders_ ), fast asleep.

Lafayette was sprawled out on his other side, lips parted ( _a breathless whisper,_ mon coeur, _tracing fingers over lean, well-defined lines, re-discovering a body that was achingly familiar_ ), both arms wrapped around Hercules in a way that meant at least the one Herc was laying on must have lost all feeling throughout the night. One of the Frenchman's legs was thrown over both of his; his whole posture was possessive, clingy, and Herc swallowed drily because he knew exactly why that was.

He himself had one arm wrapped around John and Laf each, although now that he turned his head again, he spotted Alex ( _large dark eyes staring up at him, then squeezed shut, lips parted on a moan, back arching up from the mattress in a sensuous curve_ ) fitted against John's back, face tucked into his neck, an arm wrapped around his waist and his fingertips resting somewhere on Herc's lower stomach.

Any hope that maybe, he was just having detailed flashbacks of a very vivid dream was shattered by the fact that even with the sheets around them, it was obvious that none of them was wearing any clothes.

Fuck.

He closed his eyes again tightly, willing himself to wake up fully and get his brain into gear, but all it did was bring the memories of the previous evening back with even more clarity ( _someone kissing along his back while he was lip-locked with Lafayette, litanies of murmured words from Alex because of course he wouldn't be quiet even during this_ ). They'd gotten drunk, Herc too – not enough to not know what he was doing or to obscure his recollection of the events, no, he'd known perfectly well what he was doing, but the restraint and caution needed to _keep_ him from doing it had gone out of the window at some point around when he'd stopped thinking about Alex' hand on his thigh so hard and it had seemed perfectly natural to turn his head and kiss Lafayette, even as John was fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

Well, he was sober now. Drunk him had apparently not realised or simply not cared that he was going to have to deal with the fallout of this later.

Herc took a deep breath, opened his eyes again and allowed himself a second to revel in the closeness, the silence, the grounding ( _and loved_ , his mind supplied, but he pushed the thought down because he had intruded enough as it was and he didn't need to do more damage here) feeling from the cuddle pile before he began to gently extricate his arm from beneath John. He stilled and held his breath when the younger man made a quiet snuffling sound and stirred before settling back down. Herc exhaled the breath he'd been holding before he managed to pull his arm out from beneath John and Alex without further incident. John's head dropped onto the pillow and he sighed, but showed no signs of waking.

Getting Lafayette to let go was going to be a lot harder. _Not as hard as explaining yourself to them later_ , an entirely unhelpful voice in his head supplied. Herc ignored it. One problem at a time.

With his newly freed arm, prickling with a feeling of pins and needles where the blood was starting to flow again, he reached down to where Lafayette's hand lay on his waist with the intention of moving it aside gently. He found himself covering it with his own for a few seconds before he could bring himself to try and free himself from Laf's grip.

"What're you doing?"

Herc's head snapped back to his other side, where Alexander had pushed himself up onto an elbow from where he'd been spooning John and was watching him, dark hair in disarray and a dark hickey on his neck just low enough to be hidden by a shirt collar. Herc didn't think he'd put it there, but he wasn't sure. Alex was looking way to alert for this time in the day.

"I –" the tailor began with something akin to guilt rolling in his stomach, looking down at Lafayette. He had never been good with words the way Alex was, but now he found they failed him completely. "Um." Alex' dark eyes were still fixed on him with their usual, almost unsettling intensity when he glanced back up. "I thought I'd better..."

"Leave?" Alex supplied, his tone carefully neutral. So was his expression, for that matter.

Herc swallowed, keeping his voice low as he answered: "I... guess, yeah."

He probably imagined the brief flash of hurt in Alex' expression before the other man looked down at Lafayette pointedly and then back at Herc. "And how do you plan on doing that?" he inquired, hushed and with a teasing smile playing around his lips. He seemed almost smug about the whole situation.

Herc stared down at the Frenchman, whose hold on him hadn't been relinquished in the slightest. It made his throat tighten a little – he and Laf had had _something_ not too long ago, back before Herc had noticed that his... that _Lafayette_ was falling for the other half of the "Revolutionary Set", as Alex liked to call them. He and Laf had never really put a label to their relationship, and maybe that was one of the reasons why Herc didn't think he had any right to hold the other back when John and Alex would obviously be so good for him. Hell, the three of them were good for each other, any blind man could see that, who was he to get in the way of that?

Still, the view brought back all too fresh memories of quiet mornings spent together, just the two of them – not that he wouldn't have liked the addition of John, still close to his side, or Alex, who was still watching him attentively.

But this was _their_ thing, and now that he was sober again, he couldn't help but feel like his intrusion wasn't going to be welcomed once the others came to their senses.

The discomfort, the _helplessness_ must have shown on his face when he looked back up at Alex, because the younger man's expression softened and he leaned over John to brush his fingertips along Herc's forearm.

"Stay a little longer," he murmured, his voice hushed to avoid disturbing the other two, his expression melting into something open and sincere.

Hercules found himself swallowing and giving a minute nod. "Yeah, alright," he answered quietly.

Alex beamed at him. "Great!" Then, he was pulling back and slipping out from under the covers, buck-ass naked. Herc stared after him, realised it was probably not decent, averted his eyes and then decided _screw it_ and looked back just as Alex slipped into a dress shirt he'd picked up from the floor – _Herc's_ shirt, he realised after a second when he saw it slipping from the immigrant's much slighter frame.

"Where are you going?" he whispered, alarmed.

Alex, picking up his boxer briefs – not that they were really necessary, Herc's shirt almost reached his knees – threw a reassuring wink over his shoulder. "I'll be right back," he mouthed and disappeared from the bedroom.

Herc tried not to dwell on the pang of satisfaction he got from seeing Alex in his clothes.

He sank back into the pillows after a moment, releasing some pent-up tension with a sigh, and looked down at John, whose arm had slipped from across his chest when Herc had shifted so now, his hand was splayed out on the tailor's stomach, and Lafayette was nuzzling the crook of his neck with small, barely-there movement – oh.

Herc stilled, not sure _when_ exactly he'd started tracing patterns on Laf's back with his index finger. A second later, the Frenchman went motionless as well.

They spent a second in silence before Herc muttered: "You're not asleep, are you."

He felt Lafayette exhale against his neck, preceding his quiet response. "I'm not." Laf turned his head slightly, pressed a kiss to Herc's collarbone. "Bonjour, mon coe–" His voice cut off abruptly in the middle of the familiar endearment. That... stung.

"You could say it last night just fine," Hercules remarked tightly before he had taken the time to think about it and winced at himself less than a second later. "No, sorry, forget I said –"

"You were tipsy last night," Lafayette interrupted, pushing himself up onto an elbow so he could look down at Herc, meet his eyes with an expression that was far too guarded for someone who had just woken up. "Maybe even drunk." Laf had _never_ thought it necessary to be wary around Herc before they'd split up, and the awareness of that caused a sharp stab of guilt. "I wasn't sure you would still want to hear it now that you are... not."

Herc opened his mouth to reply something, but thought better of it this time. He was the one who'd distanced himself so Laf could be with Alex and John because otherwise, he would have had to hear it from Lafayette himself at some point, which would have meant more grief for the four of them. So really, it wouldn't be fair to either snap at Laf now or to tell him that _yes_ , he wanted to hear it, had never stopped wanting it – he'd backed out of their relationship until it could hardly be called one anymore so Laf could be with John and Alex and he'd be damned if he took that from him now.

He broke eye contact, swallowing drily. The only sound was faint clattering from the kitchen while he and Lafayette sat in tense silence. Herc had backed off so he wouldn't get in the way of his friends' happiness and now he'd screwed it up because apparently, he hadn't managed to muster up the self control required to stay away from Laf – or any part of the trio, really, Laurens with his freckles and the smile that could light up a room and Alex' never-ceasing energy and intensity just as much as Lafayette's warm, sincere affection, expressed in actions rather than words but no less clear for it.

The longer he stayed, the worse he was going to make this for everybody, so Herc swallowed down whatever words were bubbling under the surface, couldn't really quench the stirring in his chest but tried to ignore it, and said quietly: "Look, Gil, I should just go."

He managed to sit up almost completely before Laf's hand on his chest pushed him back onto the mattress firmly.

"Non, you don't get to _just_ _go_ , Hercules," he stated, his accent bleeding into his voice strongly enough that the _H_ at the beginning of his name was nearly inaudible. He was damn near scowling down at Herc, who stared back up at him almost incredulously.

"Excuse me?"

"You've been avoiding us," Alex, who was slipping into the room with a tray in his hands, stated, his voice no longer lowered carefully. There was an edge to it now, matching his narrowed eyes. "All three of us."

"No I haven't," Herc replied weakly, looking back and forth between the two while he tried to figure out something proper to say, something that would get him out of the corner he'd backed himself into.

John slept like the dead, face buried in his pillow. Herc envied him.

"Yes you have," Alex replied matter-of-factly while he somehow managed to balance a tray with four mugs while climbing back onto the mattress between John and Laf. He shuffled forward, then unceremoniously straddled Herc's thighs and set the tray down on his stomach.

Herc blinked at him and then scowled. "Honestly?" he demanded, even as the smell of coffee began to fill the room.

Alex grinned at him. "I wouldn't move too much now," he chirped. "It's pretty hot."

" _Really_."

"Yeah, it's fresh. There's one for you, too. You're welcome." Even with the chipper attitude he was sporting now, there was something determined in Alex' eyes, the kind of decisiveness which meant he wasn't getting out of this one so quickly.

Still.

"It's really better if I –"

Alex honest-to-god _tutted_ at him, reaching out to place a finger on Herc's lips. "I don't think so. We gotta talk. All four of..." He trailed off as he glanced over at John, who seemed completely unperturbed by the commotion around him, still fast asleep with his face pressed into a pillow. "Oh, for the love of... John!"

For a moment, the sense of panic he'd felt building up was overshadowed by fond amusement as Herc watched Alex lean over to poke John into the ribs to wake him, making him squirm. Then, he realised that John being awake would mean one more person he'd have to explain himself to and he did _not_ need that right now.

"Can't we just let him sleep?" he hedged, carefully.

"Yeah, exactly," John agreed, muffled by his pillow while he squirmed closer to Herc and batted Alex' hand away. "You heard the man. Can't we just lemme sleep?"

"Non, mon petit," Lafayette responded firmly.

Hercules dropped his head back onto the pillow and decided to resign himself to his fate. Maybe they could get this over and done with quickly – he'd do pretty much anything right now to get out of the situation his stupid drunken self had gotten him into.

He sighed in defeat when John, apparently sleepy enough to be oblivious to the tension in the air, draped an arm over his chest while taking care not to knock the tray off of Herc's stomach.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'm awake, you fuckin' sadist."

Alexander's stern expression slipped for a moment as he chuckled. "I love you too," he quipped.

John huffed against Herc's shoulder, then sighed and sat up slightly. "At least give me my coffee if you're gonna deprive me of my beauty sleep." He sat up, supporting himself on an elbow, and reached for one of the mugs with his other hands. His hair fell over his shoulders and around his face in unruly curls and the sheet had slipped down to his waist, exposing his chest. He was a sight for sore eyes.

Well, all three of them were, really, but this didn't feel like the right time to be thinking about that. Still.

"We gotta talk," Alex reiterated, drawing Herc's attention back to him in time to see the pointed look Alex shot him before looking back up at John, who made an "oh"-sound of realisation.

Herc closed his eyes, trying to prepare himself, but John's next words caught him off-guard nevertheless.

"Right, _do_ 's and _don't_ 's, boundaries, the whole polyam shebang –"

The startled "what?" from Hercules was drowned out by Alexander's "no, no, no, John, for fuck's sake, you're like five steps ahead of everyone here, we haven't even _propositioned_ properly yet, could you tone it down a notch?!", accompanied by a failing hand toward John, whose mouth clicked shut before he let out a sheepish chuckle. He still seemed to take the whole situation a lot more lightly than Lafayette and Alex (or Hercules, for that matter).

"Sorry, I just assumed that since he's still here..." John paused to look down at Herc. "You're staying right? Because I really did assume, and that's probably never a good thing et cetera, but you're staying?"

Herc stared up at him like a deer caught in a speeding truck's headlights, willing his brain to catch up with the turn the conversation had taken.

"Actually," Alex cut in before he managed to come up with a reply, "I woke up because he was trying to sneak out this morning. Hence why I'm sitting on him."

John's expression fell from cheery and hopeful to hurt so quickly it was almost painful to watch. "What?"

Herc's attempt to raise his hands defensively was hindered by Lafayette, who was still more or less laying on one of his arms (though the sleepy relaxation from before had all but left his body several minutes ago), and John on the other side. Combined with Alex' weight pinning him down, the feeling was damn near claustrophobic, especially since the intervention-like mood wasn't doing anything to help his nerves.

That was probably why his next sentence came out a little more forcefully than he'd intended: "Could y'all just _back off_ for a second?" He could feel Alex and John both flinch and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Sorry. I promise I'm not running away or whatever, but could I have a little space to breathe, please?" He didn't give the others any chance to get a word in while they edged away (which ended up making him feel even more isolated than before, his head reeling), and didn't look up. Instead, he kept his gaze trained on his hands, twisting in his lap while he got into a cross-legged position. "I know I fucked up last night, okay, I shouldn't –"

"Herc, you..."

"Would you let me _finish_ a goddamned sentence, Alex? Thank you. I shouldn't've intruded like that, especially when y'all were drunk enough to let me, I _get that_ , alright, but if we could just let it drop instead of staging a fucking intervention, that'd be great. I'm gonna..."

"Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there."

"Alex–"

"I let you talk –"

"For like _one_ sentence–"

"–and now it's my turn. First of all, we didn't _let_ you do anything, hell, if anybody let anyone do anything, it was you because we got you drunk enough to _finally_ get you into bed."

That was jarring enough to have Herc snap his head up from his hands to Alex, who was leaning forward with strands of hair hanging into his face and a flush of his cheeks that Herc classified as _angry_.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"And secondly," the smaller man went on, undeterred, but this time Lafayette – who had been awfully quiet – was the one to cut in.

"Slow down, mon cher," he interjected and Herc turned his head to look at the Frenchman, who was sitting about an arm's length away, the sheets pulled up just enough to be more or less decent. He caught Herc's gaze and held it, and when he spoke, it was with slow deliberation: "I think we have not made our intentions quite clear enough yet. If you truly wish to leave, mon coeur," and there it was, "then you are of course free to do so."

Hercules swallowed, still processing what he'd heard so far, trying to make sense of everything he'd heard so far, trying to prevent himself to get too caught up with the implications made already.

There was a shuffling sound from behind him before John added: "We'd like you to stay, though."

Briefly, Herc twisted around to look at him – he'd scooted back to give him space on his request earlier, but looked like he was trying not to reach out, eyes fixed on him expectantly. When he glanced over at Alex, he was met with a similar expression, if a little more guarded.

"But you're..."

"In a polyamorous relationship," Alex supplied, whatever thin thread of patience he'd managed to hold on to apparently snapping as he shuffled forwards. "You're aware of what that means, right?"

Herc scowled at him. "Of course I am."

As if he'd said nothing, Alex went on: "Just because there's more than two of us in on this, doesn't mean that anyone loves anybody any less or that it's somehow worth any less just because we have more than one significant other."

"I _know_ what polyamory means," Herc insisted with a twinge of annoyance. He was more than aware of just how fond the members of the trio were of each other.

Alex nodded. "Good," he declared. "So you're aware that Laf is polyromantic or polysexual or whatever fancy label you'd like to put on it, yes?"

Herc glanced over at the Frenchman, whose head was cocked to the side slightly, with an expression on his face Herc wasn't sure what to make of. Somewhere between inquisitive and reproachful.

"Yes?" he answered slowly, gaze flickering back to Alex, who was already opening his mouth to pick up where he'd left off, trying to reach whatever he was trying to get at, but Lafayette beat him to it.

"Then why, Hercules, would you think that just because I want John and Alexander, I do not want you anymore?" There was something lacing his voice, not quite anger, but exasperation, mingled with a note of hurt that Herc and _never_ meant to put there.

He wasn't sure what to answer, either, because this was a lot to process at this time in the morning with a hangover still dully throbbing at the edges of his mind.

"But John and Alex..."

"John and Alex," the former cut in, "have been aggressively hitting on you for the past two months and are frankly astonished it took you so much time and so many shots to pick up on it." Hercules turned again to squint at John, who blinked back at him with incredulity slowly creeping into his expression. "You're about to tell me you didn't notice that, either, aren't you," he said flatly.

Herc gave him a sheepish smile. He heard more than saw Alex drop back onto the mattress with a drawn out groan of "oh my _god_ ", followed by "I've been draping myself over you like a freaking cat during movie nights since forever!"

"I thought that was just your thing!" Herc shot back, a little distractedly because there was an almost painfully constricting pressure on his chest that was loosening and abating as the situation slowly shaped out to be... not as disastrous as he'd thought, to put it mildly. It felt a little like he could breathe freely again, like the rush of oxygen after too long without, making him lightheaded.

He heard Alex huff in indignation. "I don't just snuggle with anybody," he protested sullenly.

John coughed. " _Well_..."

The other man kicked at him from his lying position. "Shut it, Jack."

"You shut it."

"Never."

Alex sat up, then crawled toward Herc on his hands and knees until he was on his haunches in front of the tailor, who had retreated against the headboard. He draped his arms over Herc's shoulders, rested their foreheads together so Herc had the choice of either staring at his lips or into his eyes. The latter option won out, but only barely.

"Lemme say this very clearly so nobody has any more room for misunderstandings or miscommunication or other screw-ups," he began, breath ghosting over Hercules' lips. "We want you too, Herc."

"Never stopped," Lafayette added pointedly.

Herc tore his eyes away from Alexander's to look at the Frenchman. "You could have said something," he responded, a little defensive because he knew as he said it that it really wasn't fair, but it seemed easier than processing what Alex had just told him.

Sure enough, Laf narrowed his eyes at him. "You would not let me! You shut me out, and anytime I tried to talk to you, you would distance yourself further. It wasn't like you gave me much of a chance, Hercules."

He was obviously ready to argue his point if necessary, but Herc knew when to admit defeat, and he'd known from the beginning that he wasn't exactly in the right with this one. His gaze dropped back down to his lap.

"Guess I owe you an apology." Lafayette's "non, mon coeur" came at the same time as John's "oh yeah" and Alex' "obviously", prompting a half-hearted glare from the Frenchman toward the other two. Hercules cleared his throat and carefully extended a hand toward Lafayette while Alex sat back a little, though his hands stayed possessively locked behind Herc's neck. "'cause I'm starting to think I might've been a little hasty, so I'm... sorry, for what it's worth, Gil."

Lafayette smiled at him, the warm, brilliant, toothy grin that would have anyone's knees go weak. "A lot, actually," he replied, lifting a hand to tangle his fingers with Herc's before dropping their joint hands to the mattress.

They remained like that for a few seconds while Hercules allowed himself to actually take in the turn the conversation had taken ( _we want you too, Herc_ ), the tension slowly bleeding from his shoulders as he took a conscious, slow breath.

After a few seconds, he inquired carefully: "So... what do we do now?"

Alex huffed, drawing the tailor's attention back toward him. "Am I actually gonna have to crawl into your lap or are you gonna take a hint and kiss me?" he complained, almost whiny.

Hercules laughed quietly, which was surprisingly freeing. With a teasing grin, he leaned back against the headboard and drawled: "I don't know, why don't you try it?"

Of course, Alexander was going to take that as a challenge. He narrowed his eyes at Herc and a moment later, he found himself being kissed with the same insistence and focus Alex did everything with. It was almost dizzying.

Herc was content to let him at first, then he leaned forward slightly, placing his free hand at the smaller man's waist. Alex allowed him to take control of the kiss with a pleased little sound before he pulled away, flushed and licking his lips with a satisfied, almost smug look.

Not that Herc himself was in a much better state.

"So you're staying, yeah?" John asked from beside him, inching closer.

Herc felt Lafayette squeeze his fingers slightly and looked over at John, all tousled curls and wary, but hopeful eyes, and smiled.

"Yeah," he answered earnestly, "I'd like that."

Barely a second later, as if that had been what he'd been waiting for, Lafayette had closed the distance between them and was kissing him with more urgency than finesse. He'd surged forward quickly enough that their teeth clicked together painfully at first, but they figured themselves out fairly quickly, falling into a familiar, gentler pace after a few frantic first moments.

God, he'd missed this.

When they broke apart, it was with none of the frantic haste from the beginning and Herc had to force himself to open his eyes again instead of basking in the moment for even longer. Lafayette was barely inches away from him, a small smile gracing his lips, and from the corner of his eye, movement caught his attention.

He raised an eyebrow, turning his head toward Alex slightly. "What're you doing?"

Alexander, who had unbuttoned the shirt he'd stolen from Herc before and was in the process of slipping it off his shoulders, shrugged and let it fall the rest of the way down, unabashed.

"Well, the coffee's definitely gone cold by now," he jerked his chin toward where he'd set down the tray earlier, "so we may as well use the time in bed before someone gets up to brew a new pot."

As John reached out toward both Herc and Alex as if he couldn't decide who to get his hands on first, obviously on-board with the idea, Hercules quickly decided he couldn't agree more.


	2. Scarves and Lazy Afternoons

_I woke up feeling fluffy, so I typed this out on my phone in about an hour. Any mistakes are because there's no caffeine in my blood stream yet.  
I have tons of ideas for this 'verse, so if there's anything you'd like to see, feel free to tell me! :)_

Hercules could hear the tell-tale sound of a key being turned in the lock, then the door slamming and shoes being kicked off with more force than they probably deserved.

"I call dibs on Herc!" John called out before he'd even reached the living room. A moment later, he came marching through the door, a scowl in his face as he headed for the couch.

Not sure what he was supposed to expect, Hercules opened his mouth, but John just shook his head and crawled onto the couch, squirmed his way under Herc's arms and settled curled up on his lap.

"Go on," he muttered, face tucked into the crook of Hercules' neck.

Herc blinked at him for a moment, his sewing supplies still in his hands. "Alright?" Despite the now slightly awkward angle, he managed two more stitches on his project before Alexander poked his head in from the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

Hercules moved to shrug, but John just muttered from his position: "I hate people."

"I take offence to that," Herc told him drily.

"Most people," John amended. "Y'all are cool." With that, he lapsed into silence again, apparently unwilling to say anything more about the topic.

Alex looked on from the doorway for another moment before he chuckled. "That's okay, then." He retreated into the kitchen - Herc was halfway certain he and Lafayette were making out in there more than they were cooking - and left the two of them on the couch.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Herc threading his needle through soft fabric while John breathed against him, silent, tension slowly bleeding from his shoulders.

"You know, if you wanna talk about it..."

"No."

"Okay."

It wasn't all that unpleasant, having John draped over him like that. Maybe it was also the knowledge that it was him and not one of the other two that John had decided to come to immediately upon entering; so Herc pressed a kiss to John's unruly curls and kept on working.

Eventually, when he'd snipped off the last bit of thread and finished off the seams, John an immovable object on his lap, Hercules called out for Alex. The man bounded through the doorway from the kitchen a moment later, cheeks flushed and hair in disarray, with a slightly smug pull to his lips.

"Why do I feel like there's no dinner getting made in that kitchen," Hercules commented drily.

Alex waggled his eyebrows. "Define dinner."

"Ew, gross, guys," John complained, still not moving. "Seriously!"

"We would have heard them," Herc pointed out with a shake of his head. "He's messing with us." Careful not to dislodge John, he reached up and wound the scarf he'd been working on around Alex' neck. "There you go."

Alexander beamed at him and bent down to press a kiss to his lips. "You're awesome." Herc watched the small smile on Alex' face as he adjusted the scarf around his neck, threw one end of it over his shoulder and ran his fingers over the fabric gently. Like a scarf made from scratch was the best thing he'd gotten all year.

"Whaddaya need a scarf for, it's barely September," John piped up.

Alex swatted him with one end of the garment. "It gets cold here," he sniffed. "Shut up."

"Do you want one too?" Herc offered and that finally spurred some movement into John as he sat up slightly, even if it was just to narrow his eyes at Herc.

"Dude. I just told you I think scarves in September are ridiculous."

"I can give it a turtle pattern."

John's eyes narrowed further and he was silent for a few seconds before he huffed and dropped back against Herc's chest. "That's cheating."

Hercules shrugged, ruffled John's hair slightly. "That's fine, I meant to do Gil's next anyway-"

"No," John cut him off and Hercules grinned at Alex over his head. "I want my scarf now. No takesie-backsies."

"Thought so."

Lafayette appeared in the doorway to the kitchen then, taking the scene in with a soft smile before he walked into the living room. He was wearing a ridiculous 'kiss the cook' apron that Herc had gotten him as a gag gift years ago and not managed to get rid of since, and had skipped his contacts in favour of dark-rimmed glasses.

"Dinner will be ready in five minutes," he announced as he leaned down to press a kiss to Herc's forehead, then one to John's hair. "Bonsoir, mon cher."

John gave a pleased little hum and then turned his head up and demanded: "I want a proper kiss."

Herc laughed quietly while Alex dropped onto the couch beside him and leaned against his side, his head on Hercules' shoulder.

Not for the first time, he found himself thinking that he could get used to this.


	3. Trial and Error

_Quick note before we get started – I adjusted the ages and back stories a little (more to the boys' backgrounds in separate instalments later), so Lafayette and Alexander are both 24, John is 26 and Hercules 29. Everything else, I think I'll cover in the fic and later ones, but I thought I should establish this._

 _Also, let me speak in John's defence up front, he's insecure and had a bad day, so he lashes out. Be gentle with him._

 _Enjoy!_

 _((EDIT: I uploaded the wrong version at first, I'm so sorry!))_

 _..._

Easing your way into a relationship was one thing, but doing it with three people at once was another one entirely. Add the way Hercules had more or less been dropped into this like into a pool of ice water, and it was probably to be expected that he didn't always know how to handle himself around his– his boyfriends. He hadn't lied when he had told them he would like to give this relationship a try, hell, he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he _hadn't_ ever thought about John or Alexander in ways that weren't exactly appropriate for someone in a committed relationship while he'd still been solely with Lafayette.

However, that didn't change the fact that he still was most comfortable, or more precisely most at ease around Gil, simply because they had been together since before they'd even really met John and Alexander. Herc just needed some time to settle into things, that was all, he was going to adjust soon enough.

He got a rough wake-up call a few weeks after he'd found himself in bed with the other three.

Since he still knew Hercules' schedule perfectly, Lafayette had come by to pick him up when Herc had closed up his tailor shop for the day and they had gone to pick up groceries for the dinner Gil had planned. It was a little unusual shopping for four instead of two, but Lafayette had announced they would be eating with John and Alexander tonight, which Hercules was more than happy with.

He and Lafayette shared an apartment and so did John and Alex, though Lafayette had more or less moved in with the other two when he and Herc had had their fall out. Now, he divided his time more or less evenly between both locations, with Hercules occasionally coming along to visit John and Alex or the other way around, one or both of them coming over to Lafayette's and Herc's. They made it work.

For this evening, Hercules had agreed to join Gil in visiting the other two, something he didn't do as frequently as the Frenchman did – not for lack of motivation, but because it was easier to feel like he wasn't intruding when he was clearly invited along.

He was laughing at something Lafayette had said when they stepped through the front door of the apartment building and began to make their way up the stairs, chatting amiably about an anecdote from one of Laf's many, ever-changing jobs.

"That isn't all!" Lafayette was laughing, eyes sparkling and a little breathless. "When she had found it, yes? She came back to me and she..." He trailed off, brows furrowing a little, and a second later Herc picked up on the sound of muffled shouting.

They exchanged a worried glance before they picked up their pace up the stairs toward John's and Alex' apartment on the second floor. A moment later, there was the sound of a door opening and John's voice rang out through the stairway loud and clear.

"No, it's because you don't get that not everything is about your fucking work, Alex, if you would get your head out of your–"

"Just because you're so fucking needy you can't let me finish one–" Alexander, interrupting, sounding just as pissed off.

"You know what, _fuck you_ , Alex!"

They reached the top of the stairs just in time to see John slamming the door behind himself forcefully, shoes on his feet with the laces undone and a jacket over his arm. He startled when he saw them, even as Gil spoke up: "John, _mon petit_ –"

"No, not right now, Laf," John interrupted, pulling on his jacket. "Not a good time."

He made a move toward the stairs and Herc stepped in his way, a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "John, hold up, I'm sure if you two–"

John batted his hand away with surprising force. "No, you don't get a say in this," he snapped sharply, eyes flashing, "you don't get to play counsellor, you don't even wanna _be_ in this relationship."

Herc stared at him as though he'd been struck. "I'm sorry?"

The scowl etched into John's face deepened. "Oh please, don't give me that, you couldn't make it more obvious you're only here for Laf if you fucking tattooed it on your forehead." He shouldered past them while Herc was still too stunned to think of a response, just stared at John's retreating back as he rushed down the stairs.

It took him a few seconds to muster the courage to look up at Lafayette, afraid of his reaction, not even sure what he himself felt about John's words. Gil met his eyes, silent for a second, then he reached out to squeeze Hercules' hand for a moment.

"I'll go after him," he said and handed Herc the bag of groceries he'd been carrying so he could dig into his pocket for the key to the apartment. It made Herc sharply aware that _he_ didn't have one, had never asked for one, and he could see where John was coming from now that he looked at it this way and it was not a pleasant feeling. "You look after our Alexander, _oui_?"

Herc swallowed, accepted the key ring dropped into his palm. "Sure," he replied quietly. "I'll see you in a bit."

He got a smile and a " _merci, mon coeur_ " in response and then Lafayette was taking off down the stairs after John. Hercules watched him disappear around the corner and then looked up at the door, filled with trepidation.

Well, he'd better get this over with.

With a deep breath, he unlocked the door to the spacious apartment. He toed his shoes off and dropped the keys in the dish by the door before he crossed the short hallway that led into the living room. It was large and open toward the kitchen, with two currently closed doors leading toward the bedroom and the study. There was a bathroom adjacent to the bedroom and another one in the hallway, opposite a supply closet, but apart from that, the flat was mostly open, bright spaces.

Alexander sat on one of the couches in the living room, laptop on his knees and typing away on it furiously, like it had somehow personally offended him.

"Hey," Herc greeted softly. He got a curt "hi" in response, the swift typing never ceasing, and when nothing else was forthcoming, he moved to deposit the groceries in the kitchen. He was almost grateful for the lack of conversation, which gave him the time to mull over John's words while he busied his hands stowing away what they'd bought.

John had been angry, he reasoned, and he had obviously wanted to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Surely, he didn't actually think... was that the way Hercules came across to the other two? Sure, he wasn't around too much, but...

He turned at the sound of Alex' laptop snapping shut forcefully, saw him drop it onto the coffee table before he threw himself back into the couch cushions with his arms crossed, glaring at Herc.

"You're thinking so loudly I can't fucking concentrate," he complained. "Spit it out."

"I don't..." Hercules hesitated for a second before he set the packet of pasta he'd been holding down on the counter with a sigh. "Yeah, okay." He ambled back into the living room so he could drop into the armchair next to the couch Alex was sitting on. Part of him wanted to open his mouth and just start _talking_ , but another, bigger part knew he wasn't going to find the right words, so he inclined his head toward where John had stormed off instead. "So what was that all about?"

Alexander sighed deeply and kicked his socked feet up onto the coffee table, arms still folded stubbornly. "It's not a big deal."

"It kinda sounded like one."

That earned him an eye-roll. "I was trying to concentrate and John kept distracting me. He _knows_ I hate that, it's not like it's a new thing how I get with work." It would have seemed defensive from anyone else, but Alex sounded wholly unapologetic.

Herc raised his eyebrows at the younger man. "It doesn't usually end this heatedly though," he pointed out.

A shrug from Alex. "We clashed. I got snappy, he was cranky, he's gonna be back and we'll kiss and make up, we always do."

"And that's it?" he asked, a little incredulously. "Kiss and make up and you're good." Of course, he'd been friends with John and Alex for a long time and there had been rough patches, but all in all, they'd always seemed like one of the most harmonious couples he knew.

Alex threw his arms up. "Look, we fight, it happens. It doesn't happen a _lot_ , but sometimes things just boil over. We always cool down pretty quickly, it's okay, it's _human_." He dropped his hands to his lap and looked over at Herc. "Are we gonna talk about what John said to you or...?"

Hercules almost winced at the abrupt change in topic, looking down at the floor. Of course Alexander would have heard that, John hadn't exactly been quiet, after all. "You know that wasn't true, right?" When he looked back up, he found Alex watching him intently, a small frown marring his features.

"Isn't it? Because it sure feels like it sometimes," he answered, his voice flat.

Hercules gaped at him for a second, taken aback both by Alex' bluntness and the fact that he and John seemed so naturally on the same page about this. "Well, that's not how it is," he protested weakly. Alex raised his eyebrows, silent for once, and Herc leaned forward to reach out to him before he stopped in his tracks, hand half-extended.

" _That_ ," Alexander spoke up, sudden and sharp like a whip, and Herc pulled his arm back as though he'd been burned. Alex shook his head, an almost pained look in his eyes. "No, that's not how I– I'm your _boyfriend_ , Herc, you can _touch_ me, and you don't need a written invitation every time you wanna come over, and– I feel like I see less of you now than I did before we got together, and it's ridiculous!"

"I knew what to _do_ around y'all before!" Herc blurted out.

Alex stared at him. "Okay, now _that_ is ridiculous, I've seen you and Laf for years, it's not like you don't know how to act in a relationship. Don't give me that."

"No, but I _know_ Gil," Herc interjected.

"You've known us almost as long as him, it's not like you don't–" he began, scowling.

"That's not what I meant, we've been a thing since y'all were still in college, I know how to be in a relationship with him!" Hercules ventured, desperate to get his point across. "I don't know what John and you expect me to be like in this."

Alexander sputtered. "Seriously? You're going Burr on me with this?" He swung his legs off the table so he could lean forward, fixate Herc with an intense look out of dark eyes. "We told you we wanted you around, right? That we wanted you in on this." Hercules glanced down briefly, which the younger man seemed to take as a prompt to press on: "You don't need to be walking on eggshells around us. We're all adults, if something's wrong, we can tell you." When Herc met his gaze the next time, he held it. "When you get home to Laf, what's the first thing you do?"

"Uhm..." The question caught him off-guard and he tilted his head at Alex, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "I– well, you know, the usual? Whatever you do when you get home to your partner."

"No, come on, details. Tell me. Just indulge me here for a moment, Herc," Alexander persevered. "Go on."

Hercules shrugged. "I dunno, I get home, drop my stuff, give him a kiss, probably complain about some snotty customer, we see who makes dinner? It depends on the day we've had, obviously."

"Okay. So?"

Herc blinked at him. "So what?"

Alex spread his arms wide, palms up. "So, you got home, you dropped your stuff, where's my hello-kiss?" His expectant expression didn't waver even as Herc made a small _oh_ -sound of understanding, so the older man got up and tentatively shuffled over toward the couch.

He hovered there for a moment, taking in the sight of Alex looking up at him with large, brown eyes that gleamed challengingly, like he was daring Herc to prove his point. Then, he leaned down to brush his lips over Alexander's lightly before he turned the touch into a proper kiss, felt Alex melt into it with a quiet hum, hands coming up to rest on Hercules' shoulders. Herc himself felt some of his nervous tension drain away, soothed with the slow, gentle nature of the kiss, and Alex gave him a soft smile when they parted, patting the cushion next to himself.

"There, see? Things like that," he muttered as Herc sank down onto the couch next to him. "I hope you're aware you're gonna be staying the night." He plastered himself to Hercules' side after he'd pulled the laptop back onto his knees and Herc wrapped an arm around his shoulders, felt Alex relax against him.

"Sounds good," he replied quietly while Alex opened his laptop, apparently having decided that he'd explained enough. "...I'm gonna need to have this conversation with John, too, aren't I."

Alex huffed a laugh next to him. "Or you could just, you know, try and kiss him. Because he's your boyfriend. You don't need to wait for his permission, you got that when we got you into bed with us." The last bit was underlined with a cheeky smile and Herc chuckled quietly, ducking his head. Alex grinned up at him. "Oh, come on, don't get shy on me _now_ , it's a little late for that," he teased.

Hercules poked him in the ribs in retaliation, drawing an undignified squeak from the smaller man. "I'm not _shy_ and you know it."

"Oh, but that's not the impression I've been getting from you lately." Alex was blatantly needling him now, mischief in his eyes, and Hercules raised his eyebrows at the laptop pointedly.

"What happened to not distracting you from your work?"

There was a contemplative, frankly adorable pout on Alex' face for a moment before he snapped the device shut once again. "I can't concentrate anymore, either way. You have successfully thrown off my groove, I hope you're proud of yourself."

Herc put his free hand to his chest dramatically. "Distracting the great Alexander Hamilton from his work! I should get a medal or something," he teased back, grinning, and then Alex was muttering _shut up_ at him and leaning up to kiss him again, more insistent than before. One of his hands clenched around the fabric of Herc's shirt and Hercules pulled him closer with the arm still wrapped around his shoulders. Alex moved to straddle him a moment later, easily setting the pace of their kiss, focussed and determined.

Hercules wrapped his arms around the other man's waist and marvelled silently at how different kissing Alex was from kissing Lafayette, starting with Alexander's slighter frame and the feeling of his less full, slightly chapped lips and the way he pushed where Gil would usually let Herc take control.

Alex was starting to tug Hercules' shirt free from his trousers when the lock to the front door clicked and they broke apart, a little sheepish. Alex twisted to look over his shoulder as Lafayette entered with his arm wrapped around a disgruntled-looking John's waist.

It was almost comical to see both of them raising their eyebrows simultaneously, Gil with a spark of amusement and John with his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Really, Alex," he said flatly. "Gosh, I'm so sorry for _distracting_ you earlier, did me getting out of the house help you get some work done?"

For a brief moment, Alexander's hands tightened on Herc's sides and he frowned, then slid off the other's lap to stand up and turn toward John properly. Hercules locked eyes with Lafayette, part of him still getting used to the feeling that no, he hadn't just been caught doing something indecent, this was absolutely within the boundaries of their relationship now. Not that they hadn't given each other free passes before, but that was a story for another time.

"No need to be a dick about this, John," Alex griped. "You know perfectly well that I can't concentrate when we fought, especially when you fly off the handle and run off like that."

John's eyebrows rose a little higher on his forehead. "If I came back here to listen to you calling me dramatic, then –"

"That's not what I meant!" Alexander's stance shifted into something more defensive, hands raised in a placating gesture. "I was an ass, I get it, you know what I'm like when I'm working." John grumbled some vague agreement while Alex shuffled toward him, Lafayette and Hercules watching silently, and reached out to grasp both of John's hands. "Hey," he whispered, making John look up.

"Oh, come on, you're gonna break out the puppy eyes on me? How is that fair?" he whined.

Alex snickered and took another little step closer. "All is fair in love and war," he said solemnly and John huffed a laugh despite himself, rolling his eyes.

For a moment, the palpable tension in the room eased up, then the freckled man looked over Alex' shoulder at Herc on the couch and it was back with a vengeance, hanging in the air thickly enough to cut it with a knife.

Hercules swallowed, replaying the conversation he'd had with Alex earlier – however, he very much doubted that John would appreciate Herc walking up to him and kissing him right now. There was no way around it, they were going to have to do this properly.

"Maybe we should talk about..."

"Could we not?" John cut him off. "Look, I probably just shoulda kept my mouth shut about the whole thing–" Herc opened his mouth to interrupt, but both Alex and Laf beat him to it, talking over each other.

"Yeah, 'cause that sounds like healthy communication, Jacky–"

" _Tu sais que c'est pas comme_ _les relations–_ " 

"Alright, alright, hold your horses!" John levelled them both with a glare as he kicked his shoes off. "Fine. Let's _talk_." He strode into the living room so he could drop into the armchair that Herc had vacated in favour of joining Alex on the couch earlier. He twisted his curls into a messy bun, then leaned back, arms folded and legs crossed at the ankles.

Gil and Alexander had followed John and were now hovering at the edge of the sitting space. After a moment, Alex seemed to want to say something, but Lafayette reached out and pulled him back by his hand.

"Actually, _mon cher_ , I think we ought to let these two have a little conversation of their own, yes?" He gave John a meaningful look and for a moment, there seemed to be some sort of silent communication going on between them, making Herc wonder what _they_ had discussed while he and Alex had talked.

John sank further into the armchair with a murmured "yeah, yeah" after a few seconds and Lafayette gave them both a brilliant smile before he pulled Alex into the kitchen and thus granted them some illusion of privacy. Hercules was trying to find a way to initiate this particular talk when John took it from him.

"Alright, so I talked to Laf, and I know what I said before was..."

"A low blow?" Hercules supplied flatly.

John pursed his lips into a thin line once again, averting his eyes, and inclined his head in a way that could have been a nod with a lot of goodwill. "Kinda, yeah," he admitted. Then, some defiance returned to his voice. "But seriously, Herc – look, I'm not gonna force you into anything you're not comfortable with or you don't want, none of us would, so if you don't wanna do this–"

"That's not it!" Herc cut in, shaking his head vehemently. "Jesus, John, I don't want–"

"We can work something out," John plunged on without looking at him, "if you wanna go back to just dating Laf–"

"Okay, John, stop, _please_ ," he interrupted, "don't pull an Alex on me now, let me get a fucking word in edgewise, would ya? I _don't want out_."

John risked a glance up at him and Herc had to swallow at the vulnerability in his eyes. The younger man seemed so convinced, so set on the idea that Hercules just didn't want him, it caused a stab of guilt that was damn near physically painful.

"I heard that!" Alex called from the kitchen, followed by something quiet, unintelligible from Laf and a quiet grumble before the only sounds were those of pots, pans and other kitchen utensils. Herc couldn't help the small smile that stole its way onto his lips and he caught the spark of amusement in John's expression, too.

"Look, I said I'd like to try this and I meant it. I talked to Alex–"

"Yeah, looked like it was a pretty good talk," John chimed in drily, but there was no spite in his tone. Maybe a hint of teasing, even.

"The point being," Herc continued, "I realise how it must have looked to you two and I swear that wasn't my intention, I'm just still getting used to the whole poly thing, it's kind of," he waved a hand vaguely, "a lot?"

John nodded slowly, warily. "I get that," he admitted. "I guess it can be a lot if you jump from one person to three."

Herc nodded. "I also get that I could have tried harder," he added. "So I'm gonna be... doing that." For a moment, they remained in their seats, neither really sure where to go from here. "So... are we good?"

"S'pose we are," John agreed tentatively. He still looked like he was expecting the other shoe to drop at any moment, like any movement might shatter their current peace.

Then, helpful as ever, Alex poked his head into the room from the kitchen. "Would you like me to print you written invitations or are you gonna kiss now? I can show you how it works if you want me to..." Lafayette said something in fondly exasperated French while he pulled the other man away from the doorway by the back of his shirt, eliciting an outraged squeak as he did.

John had flipped him off over his shoulder, laughing quietly to himself, and now he grinned at Herc as he pushed himself up from the armchair. The nervous tension was melting away, bit by bit, and John was extending an arm toward him to help him up.

"Wanna go join those two in the kitchen before they burn the house down because they were too busy making out?"

Herc chuckled and accepted the proffered hand as he got up as well. As soon as he was standing, John got up onto his tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips, short but firm, and Hercules couldn't help but mirror his smile once John had dropped back onto his heels. Something in his chest was lightening as he was pulled toward the kitchen.

It wasn't perfect by far, he knew that, they would have to work on this, but it was a start.

A few days later, his phone chimed with a notification from their group chat while he was closing up his shop for the evening.

 _Alex: Herc and Laf, are you coming over tonight?_

 _Gil: Why, of course. What's for dinner?_

 _Alex: Me!_

 _John: You wish._

Hercules chuckled in the empty shop, killed the lights and went to lock the door before he typed out his own answer.

 _Herc: I can be there in 20_

 _Alex: John said he wanted to make pasta._

 _Herc: Make that 15._

 _Alex: You wound me._

 _Alex: He's not even home yet._

When Herc rang the doorbell a quarter of an hour later, it was indeed just Alex who greeted him, Lafayette and John had yet to arrive. Since by the time he'd climbed the steps to the apartment and slipped through the door Alex had left ajar, said man was already back on the couch with a laptop on his lap and a concentrated frown on his face, Hercules simply pressed a kiss to his forehead in passing and then got comfortable in an armchair. There was a half-finished scarf in his bag which he pulled out and they sat in pleasant silence, each immersed in their work, until the lock clicked.

John had his hair pulled back into a bun, but had still somehow managed to get streaks of paint in it, just like on his shirt, pants and parts of his face and sleeves.

"I need a shower," was the first thing he said upon entering, followed by "hi", like an afterthought.

Despite his complaints, he seemed in a good, almost giddy mood, grinning over at the two of them, and Hercules watched curiously as he untied his shoes, slipped off his jacket and began rummaging in his bag while he crossed the hallway toward the living room. "Hey, Herc?"

"Yeah?"

"Think fast." The warning came just in time for him to drop the scarf and catch the folded piece of paper John had tossed in his direction. He looked up at the younger man questioningly and John just made an impatient hand gesture at him while he stepped into the living room proper. "Go on, open it." Upon closer examination, the piece of paper turned out to be an envelope, folded in half, with something in it – that explained the weight at least. So he complied, feeling the others' eyes on him as he did, and John continued: "The round one is for downstairs and the other's for the flat itself. No more excuses for not coming by."

Hercules stared at the gleaming, new keys in his palm for a second before he looked back up at John, who was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, looking expectant.

Very carefully, Herc set the scarf and the keys aside before he opened his arms invitingly and requested: "C'mere?"

Judging by the grin on John's face, it had been the right thing to say.


	4. Going Down

Falling for Lafayette had been easy. Hell, it had been way _too_ easy, back when the Frenchman had still been a college student with an accent twice as strong as it was now, so much more shy and lanky than he was today. He'd slipped into the shop Hercules had worked in back then, long before he'd opened up his own, and all the times he'd told himself off because Gil was a student or freaking _underage_ hadn't helped his infatuation in the slightest.

In hindsight, the ridiculous amount of times that Lafayette had come to the shop for a new suit, for repairs or to have an old one re-fitted could have tipped him off toward the fact that his crush was very much mutual earlier than it had, but even when he'd realised that, he'd kept Lafayette firmly at arm's length.

( _"You're not even a legal adult yet, kid, slow down." Crossed arms, a frustrated pout, Hercules persistently refusing to give in.)_

And even back then, without the confidence and self-assured, smooth charm he displayed nowadays, Lafayette had been hard to resist.

"Earth to Hercules, are you still with us?"

Alexander's socked foot was prodding at his thigh and Hercules realised his hands, previously busy with the seams on John's scarf, had been laying in his lap for a few minutes now while he'd probably been staring off into nothing. He turned his head to look over at Alex, who was stretched out with his head on the armrest of the couch and his chilly feet tucked under Hercules' thighs, a book on his chest. His hair was open, silky and wavy from his shower earlier, and his dark eyes were fixed on Herc, teasing and inquisitive both.

Falling for Lafayette had been easy, but Hercules still marvelled at how quickly Alexander and John were managing the same, especially now that he could allow himself to think of them this way without feeling a twinge of guilt every time because he feared he was betraying Gil somehow.

Now, he appreciated Alexander's passion and his fierce determination in a whole new way, accentuated with peaceful, quiet moments like this one. When the force of nature that was Alexander Hamilton came to a halt and lapsed into something more silent, calm, not poised to snap at any given opportunity, he felt like he was privy to something intimate, something the rest of the world didn't just getto see.

"Herc?"

Right. Talking.

He shook his head, partly to shake himself out of his stupor, and gave Alex a smile.

"Yeah, sure, I was just..." He trailed off, waving a hand vaguely. Words were Alexander's forte, not so much his.

"Just?" he prompted.

"I..." He set his sewing stuff aside on the armrest next to him and then turned to crawl over the length of the couch until he was hovering over Alex and could dip down for a kiss.

It earned him a surprised little sound, but Alex was quick to catch on, relaxing into the cushions and allowing Hercules to set the pace to something slow and gentle, downright sweet. Herc watched his eyes fall shut, lashes fanning out over his cheeks, before he closed his own and just let himself feel.

Alexander's eyes fluttered open almost hesitantly when they parted and he licked his lips, eyes a little glazed over.

"What was that for?" he inquired quietly.

There were words on the tip of Herc's tongue, words he wasn't ready to say, words he probably wouldn't have managed to get out anyway with how tight his throat felt right now. So instead, he kissed Alex again, holding himself up on one elbow and cupping the other's jaw with his free hand. Alex was pliant and unhurried for once instead of frantically seeking control, and it was tempting to get lost in this, to just keep on doing it forever.

He broke the kiss eventually, even if it was reluctantly, and sat up to answer with a very belated "just because". Alex looked bemused but pleased as Hercules returned to his previous position and picked the scarf back up as though he was gonna be able to focus now. When he didn't say anything more, Alexander murmured a quiet "okay, then" before he picked his book back up, teeth worrying his lower lip absently and a faint smile on his face.

Hercules watched him for another few moments until the bedroom door opened behind them and Lafayette stepped out with John. Since the latter was busy fiddling with his shirt sleeves, Hercules could stare unabashedly; John had his hair mostly down, dark curls framing his face and brushing his shoulders. Fall was approaching already, but he still had his summer tan, freckles dark and numerous against his skin, and there was a small frown of concentration on his face that lightened into a smile when Lafayette reached out to fix his cuffs for him. John's smiles could light up a room, and the look in his eyes when he looked up at Gil made the sight all the more mesmerising.

Then, he glanced over at the two of them on the couch.

"Guys, we have dinner reservations in an hour, what are you still doing there?"

Alex snickered, snapping his book shut, while Hercules watched John's curls bounce.

"Chill, not all of us need an hour in the bathroom beforehand," Alex teased as he sat up and stretched.

"You still need to get a move on, you're in sweatpants, for god's sake!"

Hercules laughed quietly as he set the scarf down on the coffee table and got up to make his way over to John, drawn to him like a moth to the flame, slow but sure. "Relax, he's had his shower, he just needs to get ready. And I'm all dressed up already."

John frowned at him and, as soon as Hercules was close enough, got onto his tip-toes. "You are _not_ wearing a beanie to a restaurant," he chided, plucking the offending garment off Herc's head to toss it toward the couch.

"I woulda taken it off myself," he muttered while he reached out and brushed some of John's curls back, fingertips trailing along his jaw. He watched the frown morph into something softer, surprised, questioning, John's breath hitching and his lips parting in a way that made it impossible _not_ to lean down and kiss the quizzical expression away.

John melted into it, hands coming up to rest at Hercules' waist, and he let Herc thread his hands through his curls and tilt his head carefully. He knew that despite the fact that he was shorter and happily submitted in moments like these, there was power tightly curled in John's frame, he could be as loud and brash as the rest of them, but he felt fragile and trusting under Herc's hands, readily showing this side of him, and it was– it was a lot, it was so much better than he deserved, these people were so much more than he could ever had hoped for.

He had to take a shaky breath before he opened his eyes once they'd separated. Only then did he look at John, whose cheeks were beautifully flushed, eyes a little wide. Herc cleared his throat and ran his hands through John's hair, smoothing out the curls he had tousled.

John made a small, questioning _hmm_ -sound, but it was Alex who spoke up, fond and amused: "Honestly, what _is_ it with you today? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Hercules made a quiet, non-committal sound and swallowed back the lump in his throat before he replied: "Nothing. Weren't you supposed to be getting dressed?" Alexander rolled his eyes in passing, but did nothing to hide his smile as he disappeared into the bedroom. Herc looked after him for a moment and then dropped his hands from John's shoulders, stepped aside. "Didn't mean to distract you," he told him with a hint of mischief creeping into his smile.

John blinked at him for a second, then went back to fiddling with his shirt cuffs as though he'd only just remembered them. "Can't say I mind," he replied, and then he was grinning at Hercules and Lafayette was stepping up behind him, wrapping his arms around Herc's waist.

He leaned back, grateful for the grounding hold while he covered Gil's hands with his own, and closed his eyes as he turned his head for a kiss – smiling, still, while he tried to wrap his mind around how fucking lucky he'd gotten.

…

 _I really, really need some Herc bonding with John. I have two other parts already halfway written, one for Herc/Alex and another with backstory for Herc and Laf, but ngh. Anyone good any wishes or suggestions for Herc/John content? (I have so many plans for this 'verse help)_

 _Also, I have no self control, and ask-the-poly-rev-squad may or may not be a thing on tumblr now. It's not an ask blog specifically for this verse, but there's some parallels (and some differences, of course)._

 _Way too long author's note over, I hope you enjoyed this mindless excuse for fluff!_


End file.
